Minority pupils more likely to have negative school experience
Pupils from Muslim minority backgrounds are more likely to have a negative relationship with their teacher, new research from Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) shows.
The study, lasting three years and involving more than 3,000 students, showed that 94.5% of majority students experienced positive or moderately positive relationships.
Meanwhile, 77.7% of Muslim minority students had positive relationships with their teachers.
A small group of both majority adolescents (5.5%) and Muslim minority adolescents (13.8%) initially experienced negative relationships with teachers but then went on to have a positive relationship.
Among Muslim minority adolescents, a group of 8.5% experienced deteriorating relationships over the three years, with an increase in feelings of rejection by their teacher.
Dr Gülseli Baysu, who led the research, said “We found that for minority kids, their relationships with teachers can play a more critical role for success but unfortunately it is these students who are more likely to experience rejection by their teachers.”
Get to know Ireland’s native trees
The National Botanic Gardens is offering free tours every Wednesday and Saturday to October 13, as Wild Ireland want to help you get to know Ireland’s native trees.
“While we’ve all become familiar with neighbourhood trees in recent times, great change happens them in autumn, and where better to witness it than the National Botanic Gardens,” Wild Ireland said.
“Visit Wild Ireland and meet our native trees, the productive, palatable and poisonous denizens of fields and forests.”
In attending the hour-long tour, you will get to know “their names and shapes, their stories and uses, and the importance of trees in the Irish landscape”.
The tours will take place in the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, and can be booked by visiting www.eventbrite.ie/e/themed-tour-wild-ireland-meet-the-native-trees-tickets-167997772861?aff=ebdssbdestsearch.
Group numbers will be limited, so book ahead. Meet at the sign in front of The Palm House, where a guide, wearing an identifiable name badge, will meet the tour groups.
China places time limit on Douyin – their TikTok
Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, will limit use of the platform for children to 40 minutes a day.
The rules will apply to users under 14, who have been authenticated using their real names, and who will be able to access it between 06:00 and 22:00, the BBC reports.
It comes as China cracks down on teenagers’ use of technology.
According to Douyin’s user agreement there is no minimum age on the platform, but under 18s must obtain the consent of a legal guardian. On sister app TikTok the minimum age is 13.
New educational content – including science experiments, museum exhibitions and historical explainers – has been launched by Douyin as part of Youth Mode.
“Yes, we are more strict with teenagers. We will work harder to provide quality content so that young people can learn and see the world,” the company said in a statement.
